This Christmas will mark 20 years since the 6 year old beauty queen was murdered and there have been a bunch of TV shows of late about the unsolved mystery. JonBenet's death and its aftermath was one of three huge media circuses in the 1990s, the others being the O. J. saga and the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan incident.
There was always two theories about JonBenet's killer -- some thought it was done by one or more members of her family with most suspicion falling on her mother Patsy; while others thought the crime was committed by an intruder. There's evidence to support both theories but no outside suspect was ever charged, nor were the parents. The parents were pretty much demonized by non-stop sensational media coverage, so if they weren't involved it was a tremendous injustice they were put through in addition to losing their little girl (Patsy died of cancer in 2006 and John subsequently remarried).
The Boulder DA's office and the police department were adversarial toward each other during the investigation, which was tainted from the get-go after JonBenet's body was discovered and moved while a bunch of concerned friends were milling about the house. The police department believed Patsy was the culprit, while the DA leaned more toward the intruder theory, or at least that there wasn't enough evidence to charge Patsy and/or John. It's a fascinating case that will almost certainly never be solved.
There was always two theories about JonBenet's killer -- some thought it was done by one or more members of her family with most suspicion falling on her mother Patsy; while others thought the crime was committed by an intruder. There's evidence to support both theories but no outside suspect was ever charged, nor were the parents. The parents were pretty much demonized by non-stop sensational media coverage, so if they weren't involved it was a tremendous injustice they were put through in addition to losing their little girl (Patsy died of cancer in 2006 and John subsequently remarried).
The Boulder DA's office and the police department were adversarial toward each other during the investigation, which was tainted from the get-go after JonBenet's body was discovered and moved while a bunch of concerned friends were milling about the house. The police department believed Patsy was the culprit, while the DA leaned more toward the intruder theory, or at least that there wasn't enough evidence to charge Patsy and/or John. It's a fascinating case that will almost certainly never be solved.